Pneumatic fiber placing machine



,1 42. w. "F. BOKUM m1. 2,291,811-

I PNEUMATIC FIBER PLACING MACHINE Filed July 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet i VINVENTORS. MLL/AM F. BOKUM U muss F. HnvE Aug. 4, 1942. w. F. BOKUM ETALPNEUMATIC FIBER PLACING MACHINE Filed Juiy s, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS WILLIAM R .BOKUM IARLES 1 ff/NE v Av-T042012! Patented Aug. 4,1942 UNITED STATES PATs r pence PNEUMATIC FIBER PLACING MACHINE WilliamF. Bokum, Ienkintown, Pa., and Charles F. Hine, San Francisco, Calif...assignora to The Pacific Lumber Company, San Francisco, Calif., acorporation of Maine Application July 8, 1941, Serial No. 401,478 8Claims. (01. 302-37) jecting into the free portion of the bore of theThis invention relates to apparatus for pneumatically forcing fibrousinsulating materials through a pipe for placing the materialsin wallspaces for the thermal insulation of the walls, and for other uses.

The objects of the invention are to provide improved apparatus whichwill more expeditiously handle chunks of baled shredded bark fiber, andefiectlvely deliver the fiber in uniformly loosened up condition.Specific advantages and features of the invention will appear in thefollowing description and accompanying drawings,

In the drawings- Fig. l is a perspective view of our improved pneumaticfiber placing machine showing its feed hopper and outlet or placingpipe, and driving engine.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section of the centrifugal ejector, takenfrom the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal central vertical cross section ofFig. 1 with the driving engine omitted.

h'ub thus provided is a continuing shaft l4 which extends horizontallythrough an elongated cylindrical shell or casing l5, and is rotatablysupportedat its outer end by a bearing I6 secured to a plate ll closingthe end of the cylinder..

Shaft N is provided at its inner end with a transversely extendingdriving pin [8 projecting at both ends into slots l9 cut in the end ofhub 9--the arrangement being to permit easy connection and separation ofshaft i l from hub 9, as

well as to obviate the otherwise necessity of ac- "curately aligning theshafts. The adjacent side Fig. 4 is a cross section of the pickingcylinder taken from the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Before describing the drawings in detail it may be said that the machineas shown in Fig. 1 comprises a base or bed plate I upon which is mount=ed an internal combustion engine 2 (or other prime mover) the shaft ofwhich directly oper-' ates devices for thoroughly opening upandloosening compact masses of shredded bark fed into the hopper 3 andejecting the fluffed up mass in an air stream forced out of pipe 4 bymeans of a centrifugal blower 5.

It is of course recognized that power blowers through :piping, includingshredded barkfiber, and such apparatus has been heretofore used 'byapplicants assignees, but the condition of the finally placed fiber wasnot entirely satisfactory as it was not uniformly or evenly separated orflufied up, but on the contrary carried in it conhave been usedforejecting all sorts of materials siderable fiber which was lumpy andunsuitable for best thermal results, whereas with the im-' provedapparatus of the present invention the defects mentioned are entirelyovercome.

In further detail the projecting engine crank shaft isdesignated s andit extends through an opening 1 in one side wall 8 of the blower casing5 and directly supports the hub 9 of the blower wheel I within thecasing. The shaft 6 does not extend entirely through hub-l butterminates at dotted line H at a point spaced inwardly -from the remoteend of the hub and is secured to the hub as by a key 12 and set screwl3, while proedge picker blades 2| alternately arranged at right anglesas indicated, and projecting inwardly from the-cylindrical casing I5 isa plurality of pointed pins 22 or sharpened screws. These pins arearranged in several rows along the upper and both sides of the casingonly as the lower half of the casing is left clear for the easy passageof material to the blower housing, and through the center of one side ofwhich blower housing the end of the cylindrical casing l5 opens andconnects thereto by a flange joint 23 re.- movably secured-in place asby screws 24. Pointed pins 22 are threaded so that their projection intothe casing l5 may be adjusted. The taper of the picker blades avoidssnarling up of the fiber on the picker shaft.

Adjacent the outer end of easing i5 is a vertically extending chute 25formed with a flaring hopper 3 on its upper end, while at the extremeouter end of cylindrical casing i5 is one or more air inlet openings 28which may be more or less closed off by an adjustable shutter 21. Itshould be noticed that these air in-' the blower wheel II, and that thepicker blades 2| are about a quarter the diameter of the blower wheel,as this keeps down the peripheral speed so the picker will pick apartthe lumps of fiber and not destructlvely disintegrate and destroy it.

The form redwood bark fiber, and consists of a E'solid of the blowerwheel I has been developed after considerable experiment to meet thespecial requirements of handling shredded .gular plates 29 welded to hub'9. Vanes 28 are broadest at their outer .ends and tapered toward thehub to fit the secured to the hub 9. I

Disk I is conically dished forwardly over I thegreater part of itsdiameter to about half the breadth of'th'e vanes 28 where it meets thehub 9 as indicated at I0, and is rigidly braced in this dished positionas by a plurality of an to the disk as well as dished form of the diskIt and are also similarly tapered on their forward edges to about halfthis amount, thus providing a space between the forward edges of thevaries and the wall 8 of the blower housing which becomes narrowertoward the ends of the vanes. The outer ends 28' of the vanes are curvedbackward or in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of theimpeller wheel indicated by the arrow. The outer end of the casing I issecured to and supported in horizontal extension on a bracket 30 and theengine 2 is similarly supported on a pedestal 3 the base plateor frameI, so as to make a rigid portable assemblage, the moving about of whichis facilitated by provision of a rail handle 32.

The use of a gasoline engine as the prime mover is preferable to anelectric motor for the reason that in orderto drive a blower wheel ofabout two feet in 'diameter at the speed desired, about five horsepoweris required, and normally the power sockets available in home districtswhere these machines are frequently I, all in turn secured to aresimilarly of fiber and production of objectionable dust than priormachines used for this p p se.

Having thus described our improved pneumatic' bark fiber claim is:

1'. A pneumatic baled insulating fiber comprising a' rotary blowerhaving a. housing with a multivane impeller wheel therein, apower shaftextending through one side of the housing supporting the impeller. acylindrical casing secured at one end toand extending laterally from theopposite side of said housing and open at said end to the impellerspace, a' picker shaft extending through said cylindrical casingconnected at its inner end to said power shaft and supported at itsouter end by a bearing carried by said casing, cooperating pickerelements projecting from said picker shaft and said casing," meansclosing the outer end of said casing, a feed chute extending upwardlyfrom said casing, .means for admitting air to the outer end of saidcasing, and means-for adjusting the projection of the picker elementsfrom said casing, the bottom of said casing being free from pickerelements.

2. A pneumatic placing machine for handling baled insulating fibercomprising a rotary blower having a housing with a multivane impellerwheel therein, a power shaft extending'through one side 'of the housingsupporting the impeller, a cylindrical casing secured 'at one end to andextending laterally from the opposite side of said housing and open at-said end to used in filling the studding spaces of the houses withshredded bark fiber, are not wired heavy enough for the currentrequired. The engine also permits the machine to be used on new workbefore the electric installations have been made, and is also lessexpensive to run. Besides by reason of the greater power through use ofan internal combustion engine it has been possible to reduce the size ofthe placing pipe from the 5." diameter formerly used, to 3" diameter. Y

While the machine may be used to fluff up and pneumatically place anykind of fibrous material, it has been especially designed to handlefinely shredded redwood bark fiber as furnished for thermal insulationpurposes. This bark fiber is supplied in tightly packed bales, and whenthe bales are opened it may be separated in layers several inches thickand chunks and slablike pieces broken off by hand. These chunks andpieces are dropped or fed into the hopper 3 while the machine isrunning, and are at once I4 cooperating with the pointed pins 22 andcomthe impeller space, a through said cylindrical inner end to saidpower picker shaft extending casing connected at its shaft and supportedat its outer end.by a bearing carried by said casing,

cooperating pickerelements projecting from said picker shaft and saidcasing, and a feed opening in the wall of said casing, the-vanes of saidpropeller wheel being generally radially disposed and of greatestbreadth adjacent their outer ends and tapered narrower toward-said powershaft along their edges adjacent said casing and curved away from thedirection of rotation at their outer ends.

3. A pneumatic placing machine for handling baled insulating fibercomprising a rotary blower having a, housing with a multivane impellerwheel therein, a power shaft extending through one side of the housingsupporting the impeller, a cylindrical casing secured at one end to andextending laterally from the opposite side of said housing and open atsaid end .to

pletely separated and fiulfed up before entering the impeller wheelhousing with, the suction air stream. a

The fiuifed up material passes generally along the bottom wall ofcylinder l5 together with air drawn' in from louver openings .26,thoughadditional air enters with the chunks 'of material constantlybeing fed into chute 25, and by the form of the impeller wheel beingtapered away from its housing wall 8' where the fiufied up materialenters it is less destructive to the material, but brings it up to speedand ejects it through the outlet pipe 4 with less breakage the impellerspace, a picker shaft extending through said cylindrical casingconnected at its inner end to said power shaft and supported at itsouter end by a bearing carried by said casing, cooperating pickerelements projecting from said picker shaft and said casing, and a feedopening in the wall of said casing, the vanes of said propeller wheelbeing genera-11y radially disposed and of greatest breadth adjacenttheir outer ends and tapered narrower toward said power shaft alongtheir opposite edges, and a conically dished disk secured to the edgesof said vanes remote from said casing.

4. A pneumatic placing machine for handling baled insulating fibercomprising a rotary blower having a housing with a multivane" impellerwheel therein, a power shaft extending through one side of the housingsupporting the impeller, a cylindrical casing secured at one end to andextending laterally from the opposite side ofsaid housing and openatsaid end to placing machine, what we placing machine for handling 7its outer end by a bearing carried the impeller space, a picker shaftextending through said cylindrical casing connected at its inner end tosaid power shaft and supported at by said casing, cooperating pickerelements projecting from said picker shaft and said casing, and a feedopening in the wall of said casing, saidcasing being removably securedat its end to said housing, said impeller provided with a hub secured tosaid power shaft, the irmer end of said picker shaft provided with atransversely projecting pin, and the outer end of said hub beingtransversely slotted to receive saidpin with the end of the shaft in thebore of the hub together with said power shaft.

5. A pneumatic placing machine for handling baled insulating fibercomprising a rotary blower having a housing with a multivane impellerwheel therein, a power shaft extending through one side of the housingsupporting the impeller, a cylindrical casing secured at one end to andextending laterally from the opposite side of said housing and open atsaid end to the impeller space, a picker shaft extending through saidcylindrical casing connected at its inner end to said power shaft andsupported at its outer end by a bearing carried by said casing,cooperating picker elements projecting from said picker shaft and saidcasing, and a feed opening in the wall of said casing, said impellerprovided with a hub bored for said power shaft,

provided with a hub bored for said power shaft, said vanes being ofsheet metal extending substantially parallel to the axis of the powershaft of greatest breadth adjacent their outer ends and tapered narrowertoward the hub along forward and rear edges, a conically dished disk incontact with the rear edges of the vanes and welded thereto and to saidhub, and radially extending bracing plates welded tothe hub and to thedished rear side of said disk, said vanes being generally straight andradially disposed but with outer ends curved away from the direction ofrotation. I

'7. A portable pneumatic fiuffing and placing machine for insulatingfiber comprising a base,

a blower housing carried on said base, an internal combustion engine onsaid base with the impeller of said blower carried on theengine shaft,an elongated cylindrical picker casing not over half the diameter of theblower impeller extending laterally from the intake side of said blowerhousing and provided with an upwardly extending feed chute, a bracketsupporting the outer end of said casing'to the base, a picker shaft insaid casing removably coupled at one end directly to said impeller,cooperating picker elements .carried by said casing and picker shaftformed to loosen up compacted fibers, and a said vanes being of sheetmetal extending substantially parallel to the axis of the power shaft ofgreatest breadth adjacent their outer ends and tapered narrower towardthe hub along forward and rear edges, a conically' dished disk incontact with the rear edges of the vanes and welded thereto and to saidhub, and radially extending bracing,plates welded to the hub and to thedished rear side of said disk.

6. A pneumatic placing machine for handlin baled insulating fibercomprising a rotary blower having a housing with a multivane' impellerwheel therein, a power shaft extending through one side of the housingsupporting the impeller, a cylindrical casing secured at one end to andextending laterally from the opposite side of said housing and open atsaid end to the impeller space,- a picker shaft extending through saidcylindrical casing connected at its inner end to said power shaft andsupported at bearing supporting the outer end of said picker shaft.

8. A pneumatic placing baled insulating fiber comprising a rotary blowerhaving a housing with a multivane impeller wheel therein, a power shaftextending hori-r zontally through one side of the housing supporting theimpeller, an elongated cylindrical casing of much less diameter than theblower housing secured at one end' to and extending laterally from theopposite side of said housing and open at said end to the impellerspace, a picker shaft in said cylindrical casing removably connected at.one end to said power shaft, 7 cooperating picker elements projectingfrom said picker shaft and said casing, and a feed opening in the wall'of said'casing, the picker,

elements projecting from the shaft arranged therealong inv staggeredrelation to the elements 4 on the casing and being of a. diameter notover its outer end'by a bearing carried by said casing,

cooperating picker elements projecting from said picker shaft and saidcasing, and a feed opening in the wall of said casing, said impeller onethird the diameter of said impeller and formed to pick apart and loosenup the compacted fibers fed into said casingso as to all pass freely bysuction-into said blower.

WHLIAM F. BOKUM. CHARLES F. HINE.

machine for handling

